Writing
Personal Narratives
By Kristen Nunns & Lisa Smith
Preface
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Personal narratives are a good place to start teaching writing, especially if you have a group of reluctant learners. Who
doesn’t want to talk about themselves? Personal narratives allow
students to choose a moment in time that is important to them
and “explode the moment.” In this ebook, you will find strategies
for introducing and teaching personal narratives to a wide range
of students.
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Throughout the iBook you will see this
icon which indicates the inclusion of an
I.S.L.E.S. Instructional Strategy.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising,
editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and
update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage
of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Common Core Standards Addressed:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3b Use narrative techniques, such as
dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines,
to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3d Use precise words and phrases,
telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of
the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
i
Chapter 1
Introduction to the Personal
Narrative
Language Objectives:
Students will learn to use
imagery in their personal
narratives.
Section 1
Journal Writing & Imagery Activities
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In general, students like to write about themselves and
their lives. Personal narratives allow students to do this, while
also allowing you as a teacher to get to know your students better as both people and writers. However, don’t assume that students know what a personal narrative is, how to organize one, or
how to choose a topic. You should walk them through each step.
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First, introduce them to the idea of a narrative by having
them write a journal entry about a specific event defined by you.
You can find sample prompts in the box to the
left. In the beginning, students should only have
a short amount of time to write (5-10 minutes)
so that they don’t get overwhelmed by details.
Once they do the initial writing, it is easier to
have them go back and revise or add to the writing. After students complete the journal writing, a review of imagery is a good
next step. Many students will come to your class knowing imagery, but others will not and even if they do know what imagery
is, many students struggle with how to integrate it into their writing.
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Students need to be reminded that imagery is not just
about an image, but also about what the reader can taste, touch,
smell, and hear. At this time, providing students with a sample
text can be beneficial. The possible sample texts are endless, but
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Choose one which is engaging for students and rich in imagery.
Read through the text with students once, and then ask them to
identify examples of good imagery.
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After students analyze the sample text(s) for words or
phrases that contain imagery, take the time to explicitly teach
how to create imagery in their own writing. You may do this using several activities such as the blindfold activity or the analyzing a photographs activity described below.
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The blindfold activity consists of separating students into
different stations. At each station, there should be objects for
the students to analyze using each specific sense separately
(touch, taste, smell, hearing) while blindfolded. They should
work in pairs so that the blindfolded student has a partner to record the descriptions on a Tree Map Thinking Map®. After one
student has analyzed an object using his senses, the students
should switch jobs so that the other student has an opportunity
to analyze a different object and the partner records. Tell students that for each sense, they should tell their partner words or
phrases describing the object. For example, if the blindfolded student is using the sense of touch and feeling a square of velvet,
they may choose to use words like smooth or soft to describe it.
Frame of Reference® around it; they should
draw the circle so that it takes up most of the
picture. They will need five different colored
pens, pencils, markers, etc. to record each
sense in a different color. Direct students to
only focus on one sense at a time until exhaustion. Then after a
predetermined amount of time (i.e. one minute), allow them to
move on to the next sense until all the senses are accounted for.
Remember to remind the students to change colors when they
change senses. In the Frame of Reference, students should record which color represents each sense.
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Once students have explored imagery with one or both of
these activities, ask them to revise their original journal writing
to include imagery.
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Another good mini-lesson to teach imagery is analysis of a
photograph. This can be done in several ways. You can provide
each student with their own photograph (this can be an advertising photograph, piece of art, or simply a photograph) or you can
choose one photograph to project for all students to analyze. Either way, each student needs to draw a Circle Map® with a
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Chapter 2
Characteristics of the Personal
Narrative
Language Objectives:
Students will identify the
characteristics of a personal
narrative.
Section 1
Teaching the Characteristics of a Personal Narrative
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Use the video at right to introduce students to the characteristics of a personal narrative. In this video, the characteristics
are presented then a song is used to explain those characteristics
more in depth. The characteristics are listed for you in the text
box below, as well.
Interactive 2.1 Characteristics of a Personal Narrative
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While the video is playing, ask students to take notes on
the six characteristics. After watching the video, engage students
in a discussion of those traits, asking them to explain those traits
to you verbally. Invite students to find a song they are familiar
Characteristics to Use in Your Personal Narrative
1.First Person Point of View
2.Dialogue
3.Action
4.Focus/Purpose
5.Imagery and Details
6.So What?
Things to Avoid:
• Too Much Information!
• The “Alarm Clock” Story-we don’t need every detail of the
day. Only the important details need to be included.
YouTube video outlining the characteristics of a personal narrative
in songs.
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Review 2.1 Review
Question 1 of 4
Which best defines personal narrative?
with that they believe is a personal narrative. They should provide the lyrics and an analysis of that song using the six characteristics of a personal narrative. This allows to
you assess which students understand the
characteristics and which need more instruction.
A.
a story told in third person
B.
a story told about you, by you
C.
an autobiography
D.
a lengthy, detailed description of an event
Check Answer
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Chapter 3
Personal Narrative
Assignment
Language Objectives:
Students will write a “This I
Believe” personal narrative.
Section 1
This I Believe
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National Public Radio (NPR) produces an essay series entitled “This I Believe” which supports the idea of a personal narrative. This essay series asks everyday people to examine their personal beliefs and tell the story of how they discovered that belief. The essays are very short
at 500 words but are rich in the characteristics of a personal narrative; specific essay
guidelines are given on NPR’s website. NPR
publishes both the essay and an audio recording of the essay on their website. Using some of these essays as
text exemplars for students gives them an idea of what to include
in their own essay. NPR also produces a free weekly podcast
which can be subscribed to and used for updated essays.
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Use the essays published on NPR’s website to reinforce the
six characteristics of a personal narrative. Ask students to analyze how well contributing writers fulfill those characteristics in
their essays. Perhaps, begin by providing texts chosen by you for
analysis. After you and students review 1-2 texts as a class, allow
students to explore more essays by theme. Ask students to analyze 1-2 essays on their own and turn in an informal analysis for
you to ascertain their level of understanding of the characteristics once again.
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Once students have explored some of the essays by theme,
they should begin to examine their own beliefs and attempt to
explain their beliefs in writing. For many students, this can be
the most difficult part of the writing process, and the use of a
Thinking Map®, such as a Circle Map®, could
be beneficial for the writing process. First, students should list the things or ideas that they
feel strongly about. Once they have created
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this list, students should examine which belief is the “strongest”
or allows for the most development into an essay.
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For students who finish their essay early or who need an extension activity, direct them to submit their essay to NPR and record an audio file of themselves reading their essays. The audio file will
have to be submitted to the teacher, but the finished essay may be submitted to NPR’s website. Students may use any audio recording program available to them at home or school and submit the audio
file to you in any way that you prefer.
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You can access lesson plans, worksheets, podcasts, and
more that you can use to support this assignment at the links below.
NPR: “This I Believe” Sample High School Writing Curriculum
“This I Believe” Sample Middle School Writing Curriculum
Read-Write-Think: Giving Voice to Students Through “This I Believe” Podcasts
Read-Write-Think: Two Belief Statements worksheet
Read-Write-Think: “This I Believe” Podcast Rubric
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If a student is under eighteen years of age, he or she must
have parent or guardian permission to submit their essay. This
may be done in the form of a parent letter which requests permission for the student to submit their essay; NPR requires that a
parent/guardian name and email address be provided for anyone
under eighteen. Please note that NPR does not accept submissions from anyone under twelve years of age.
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Chapter 4
Revision & Evaluation
Language Objectives:
Students will revise and edit
their personal narratives.
Section 1
Revision
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Revision is an important step in the writing process which
is often skipped by students. For this reason, it is important to
build in and take time for revision step in class.
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Students should begin the revision process with a selfreview in which they use the following questions to evaluate
their personal narrative. These questions should help students to
evaluate their writing and where they need to refocus or revise:
• Does your essay tell a story? What is the story?
• Is your belief clearly stated in a sentence
or two? What is the belief?
• Does your essay have sufficient details
and imagery? How do you know? Provide
textual evidence.
• Does the essay meet the list of characteristics for a personal
narrative?
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After students complete their self-review, they should use a
Flee Map® to deconstruct their essay. This
allows students to break apart their essays
and be sure each section of the essay is fully
fleshed out and divided equally.
Gallery 4.1 Flee Map® Essay Deconstruction: Thinking Map® examples
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The next step in the revision process should be peer
revision. Students should be paired by the teacher in groups of
2-3 depending on the number of students in class. Consider
ability levels when pairing group members. Within these groups,
students should silently read each other’s
essay(s) and answer the same questions that
they answered in their self-evaluation (see
questions previously stated). Students
should not be allowed to speak to each other
for clarification during the reading of their
essay since the essay needs to be clear
without input from the writer. If the reader cannot fully answer
the evaluation questions, the writer knows they have much more
revision to do to be sure their writing is clear.
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After this step is completed, students should read their
essay to a peer while the peer attempts to draw the images
created in the essay. This allows the students to evaluate whether
the imagery within the essay is strong or still needs work.
Students drawings do not have to be original masterpieces of art,
but should be conscientiously done for the benefit of the writer.
Flee Map®
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Section 2
Editing
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Editing is different from revision in that it focuses solely on
grammar and mechanics, while revision focuses on content, structure, word choice, etc.
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Pair students in small groups again, considering ability levels, and provide them with a peer editing rubric. Again, do not
allow students to ask each other for clarification while reading their essays. Students
should thoroughly complete the rubric and
use a highlighter, pen, or pencils to mark areas
of concern on their peer’s essay.
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The Hemingway App is a free resource online that can help
students edit their writing.
They can simply copy and
paste their text into the
app and it will evaluate
their writing in several areas such as grade level
readability, sentences
which are hard to read or
very hard to read, use of
adverbs, passive voice, and
Interactive 4.1 Hemingway App
words or phrases that
could be simpler.
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Another good resource for a free online editing tool is the
SAS Writing Reviser. This tool does require a login, but once the
login is created, students may use the reviser at any time, as
much as they want, and they can save their work. The SAS Writ-
Interactive 4.2 SAS Writing Reviser
ing Reviser utilizes an exhaustive list of grammar and mechanics
to evaluate writing. It will alert students when they have an issue
with grammar/mechanics and provide lessons on those issues.
The student can then use the information in the lesson to help
them edit their writing.
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Chapter 5
Resources
References and Resources
NPR: http://www.npr.org/
Thinking Maps® are copyrighted material. You can get more information about maps and training at: http://thinkingmaps.com/
Read-Write-Think: http://www.readwritethink.org/
I.S.L.E.S.: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/SecondaryISLES/InstructionalStrategies.cfm
This I Believe: http://thisibelieve.org/
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTVWUKBjp1o
Hemingway App: http://www.hemingwayapp.com/
SAS Writing Reviser: http://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/portal/Launch?id=4003
OWL: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
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I.S.L.E.S.
Instructional Strategy Lessons for Educators Series: part of the TQP (Teacher Quality Partnership) grant at East Carolina University.
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Preface - Preface
Personal narratives
According to the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue
University, a personal narrative is an essay that is anecdotal,
experiential, and personal—allowing students to express
themselves in a creative and, quite often, moving way.
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Chapter 1 - Journal Writing & Imagery Activities